In the retail setting, one important challenge is tracking the levels of merchandise available to customers at shopping facilities. If merchandise levels are not carefully monitored, the merchandise on shelves and on display containers may be completely depleted. If shelves or display containers are empty, customers may not be able to locate desired merchandise without undergoing the inconvenience of asking a store employee if the merchandise is otherwise available. This failure may lead to lost sales as customers decide not to purchase that particular item or go to a different store for the item.
It would therefore be desirable to determine an approach for monitoring and restocking merchandise before shelves or display containers are depleted. Further, it would be desirable to develop an approach where the general frequency of restocking can be predicted. It would be desirable to develop an approach where inputted variables are considered to improve the predictions of times for restocking.
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.